Shotty Job History

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Had a perm job for 7~8 months till i was laid off then i did contract work for 2 months this year and i am now looking.

I tell the interviewer that I was laid off but I always get hired back.

Well, I have a "resume" that looks pretty good . . . & then I have my job history, which is unknowable because even I can't remember every job I've ever had. I've lost count, but I figure it has to be at least 30 that qualify as formal employment. I do have some marketable skills, a college degree, more-or-less normal appearance, & some good references, so getting a job hasn't necessarily been the problem; holding onto one has been a much tougher challenge.

This is the way it always seems to go for me. Sometimes this all plays out in 2 months; usually it unfolds over a period of 1-3 years. I get hired & I'm able to make a good first impression. I have good work habits, am never absent & rarely ever late. I've always been a dependable & productive employee. So things always start out fine. Sometimes I would be singled out for praise or accolades. Often even promoted . . . & that's when things start to fall apart.

I'll get comfortable in my job routine, but as time passes & the office politics plays out, I always find myself on the outside looking in. Sometimes it's been the result of a change in ownership or management, or sometimes it's just different personnel or circumstances. I still struggle in many (though not all) social situations, & in the work environment I've never been good at small talk & glad-handing. I can't look people in the eye. NTs in the work environment seem to have the innate ability to identify whose butts need kissing & who can be stepped on, but it's all lost on me. There is also a problem dealing with authority figures. Some people in positions of authority are only interested in whether the work gets done right - no problem here. But more often people in such positions are demanding DEFERENCE - some gesture or verbalization that says "I recognize your social superiority & submit to your authority" - & when they fail to receive it they either go into a rage then & there, or just as often quietly blacklist me. On more than one occasion, somebody I just can't stand maneuvered into a position of authority over me, & other times someone without formal authority over me started trying to boss me around. Often people I trained get promoted over me. Whatever the specifics, gradually my standing weakens & eventually I find myself without powerful allies. When the end comes, it's usually over a pretext or some technical violation rather than any specific failure or dereliction of duty. Usually I'm told something like "you're just not a good fit for us" or "we don't see a future for you in this organization" or "we're looking for a team player".

When it happens once or twice, maybe it's just that this or that job is a bad fit for me. But when it happens over & over & over again, I have to figure that the problem is with me. I've always been able to carry out the responsibilities of a particular job, but I've tended to neglect the social side of work. I've always tried to keep work & private life strictly separate, & I have no desire whatsoever to socialize with coworkers outside of work. Also I've had a tendency to bail on social events - office parties, after-hours dinner & drinks, "team-building" exercises & the like. These things are unpaid & ostensibly "voluntary", but failure to attend is surely noticed. In any case, that's where alot of the political maneuvering & favor-currying takes place.

So after the ax falls, I head to the unemployment office. I qualify for full benefits, but the employer contests the ruling. Turns out that said employer didn't just want to be rid of me, but rather holds me in such contempt that he/she wants to humiliate & embarrass me & is determined to have my unemployment benefits denied. Three times I've won this round, & on 2 of those occasions the employer filed a second appeal - they're not going down without a fight. On 2 other occasions I've lost the initial appeal & had to pay back benefits I'd already been paid.

Once I've got unemployment, I ride it until the benefits are exhausted. I guess to the libertarians I'm just a shameless "moocher", but unemployment insurance has kept me in my house, kept my life from falling apart completely. Then I craft another resume, find another job & repeat the cycle.

By now I know that this is the way it will always be for me, so I've developed multiple streams of income (odd jobs & side work, contract work, teaching private lessons, etc.) & have become exceptionally frugal - I've been told that I can squeeze the life out of a penny. It happens this way all the time, but by now when it does at least I'm reasonably prepared.

i have had horrible history with jobs changed almost 20 jobs in 2 years

1) Worked in a company for 1 month then was sacked
2) Worked in company for 6 months then resigned couldnt cope with work pressure
3) Worked for 1 week and was sacked without pay
4) Worked for 2 months left didnt like office politics
5) Worked for 1 month was molested and verbally abused so quit
6) Worked for 1 month was resigning but salary was not given so dragged the employer
to police station
7) Worked for 1 year in school and then resigned lot of harassment
worked for 6 months in school and resigned very low pay
9) Worked for 1 week quit due to office politics
10) worked for 3 months in school extreme politics was sacked
--------------3 years at home due to fear and phobia of work place
11) started working again now its been a year working for NGO
teaching underprivilaged children, office politics is bad cant handle
but field job is good love the teaching part.

Cant handle office politics and NT's are really manipulative

I graduated high-school in 2001 & I didn't get my 1st job till about March in 2005. I didn't start looking for work till I had been out of high-school a year & a half; long story. I have a few physical disabilities that limit me but I had been putting in apps with most anything I thought I could do like retail stores & the like & I never mentioned anything about disabilities on my apps. I went to the places every couple months & I filled out another app but I only had a couple job interviews in that time. Companies didn't want to consider me because being out of high-school a couple years & no college or previous work experience during that time looked suspicious. I only got my 1st job because an employment agency I worked with lined it up for me. It was a dish-washering job & the employment program had placed clients there before. I took it to try it out & get some experience to get a better job. I left after 10months when I got hired on at WalMart. I was hired in middle of November so they were hiring for the holiday season & because a remodel was planned for right after that. I was hired for stocking but I had problems with that but they saw I was trying & maybe they were also worried about the disabilities act so they transferred me to floor-care. I did well with that but I was forced to leave after 2 years due to management issues & after I left my department was dissolved into others & a contract crew that had been helping us out officially took over so I feel I was forced out. I got my next job 6months latter & it was doing custodial stuff at a sporting goods store. I had problems climbing ladders & handling the box-cutter at time due to a tremor disorder so I tried getting that treated. The meds made me sick & I was let go after being gone for two weeks due to company policy. I lost that job at the end of October in 2008. I hadn't worked sense & I only had one interview in that time; it was doing custodial type stuff at a hospital but I didn't get the job. Luckily I'm on disability so I have an income & I had been living with my parents rent free. I recently moved in with my girlfriend across the country(check link in my post sig for info) & I'm hoping I'll have better luck finding a job there after I get settled in & decide to start looking.

Yup. Terrible job history too. Masters degree, but very limited work. Very little experience. There isn't really anything else I can say that hasn't already been said.

I think it sometimes may be better to have a short job history compared to having fast food and retail in your resume when you're trying to apply to a better position.

I've had about 7 jobs in the past 10 years. It's got to the point where my job history has become an issue with potential employers. I'm thinking my resume might need altering

Not had a job that's lasted over a month.

I also have a shotty job history, with the longest I had a job before being laid off yet again was about 3 years. With that one, the layoff happened after they didn't schedule me in 3 months, and the only reason they told me I was laid off was that I kept calling to ask if I was on the schedule. I would have appreciated it if they just said that I was laid off months before I was, as it would have saved me the stress.

Other jobs were actually temporary, instead of being temp to hire as I had hoped, or it was seasonal retail. I did get hired for a grocery store that was remodeling one of the locations, but in the end, it was a case of overhiring since that location got too many of their employees back. Most of the people who I went through the training with were also told they weren't needed.

I'm actually meeting with someone tomorrow who is going to help alter my resume to make my job history less of an issue with potential employers.

My work history is basically non-existent.

In 27 years of working, I've never had a permanent job and no job has lasted longer than 4 years.

The pay has never got much over minimum wage, either, most jobs.

Feeling VERY low today..

I never had a job last more than 1.5 years and since 2009 only have worked scattered temp jobs. I just had an offer (for a 12 week temp position) cancelled because I 'failed the background' check because of adverse credit history

I've been out of college since 1985. I've never liked office politics. I found out the hard way when I was left go from a position as a Pentagon Contractor employee. My immediate superior had me working on several projects at once. The incident that caused me to be terminated was I was researching document management systems, and was waiting until the new fiscal year started in order to meet with the three companies I felt met the criteria for a possible contract. My supervisor decided to go with one vendor before I even had the required information in order to make a decision. The other vendors found out a decision was made, and I ended up looking like a jackass. I had finally had enough of this backstabbing and tried to submit my resignation immediately. My supervisor talk me out of that, and let me submit my 2 weeks notice. She wanted to throw a farewell party the last day on the job, but I said I don't like parties. Besides, I was hired to do a job, nothing more, nothing less. When I left that last day, my parting comment was the closing line that the comedy team of Bob Elliot and Ray Goulding used to close their show with: Write if you get work, and hang by your thumbs.

Last job I had was a seasonal job in a haunted house back in 2011. - one month

Before that, I worked at Starbucks in 2008 - one month.

From 1998-2008 I think I had about 44 jobs.

My longest job was a year.
Shortest was three hours.

Needless to say, I get disability..

Longest I managed to keep a job was for a year and 5 months but ended up getting fired for "not smiling enough and a lack of facial expression" oddly enough. That was my first ever job. I can't even keep volunteer work without being kicked out of where I'm volunteering because I'm not liked without any reason I can think of, it's depressing.